Category Challenges vs. Essential Challenges

If you’ve ever gone to a networking event or referral exchange group, you might have heard something like this. When it’s the accountant’s turn to stand up, he (or she) says, ‘if you know someone who wants to save money on their taxes, that person would be a good referral for me.’

Congratulations. You’ve just heard a prime example of a category challenge. All accountants, you see, claim to save their money on their taxes. At least, that’s what they’re all supposed to do, right?

The accountant gave you absolutely no reason to send a referral to him or her instead of anyone else. (And to think that the accountant probably practiced an elevator pitch for weeks! It’s a pity, really…)

Marketers — the better ones, anyway — tell you to focus on your market’s challenges. And that’s generally good advice, but unless you can prove you solve the category challenge better than anyone else, a category challenge will do absolutely nothing to persuade your potential customers to buy from you over anyone else. In other words, a category challenge does nothing to differentiate you from the crowd of people who claim to do the same thing that you do.

What challenge do you solve?

A business consultant might claim to help clients get to the proverbial next level. A life coach might claim to solve the challenge of overcoming obstacles. A financial advisor might solve the challenge of managing people’s money. A network security might solve the challenge of keeping out intruders — just like all the other companies in the same space.

It comes down to this. Category challenges are generic. Essential challenges are differentiating. If you understand this distinction, you will understand one of the most powerful concepts behind The Essential Message.

What you do is generic. How you do it is unique.

To discover your Essential Challenge, don’t just look at the challenges your customers have. Instead, look at the challenges that your industry or your competitors create. How you solve those challenges can provide you with some of the best clues to your greatest differentiators.

Want an example?

It’s not too much of a stretch to see that because of hidden fees, confusing statements and the different ways that returns can be calculated, the financial services industry has created an atmosphere of distrust. During a one-day intensive workshop with a financial services company, I learned that transparency was a key part of my client’s values and vision. Once I started digging, I found several examples of how they how they incorporated trust and transparency into their business processes and procedures.

In other words, they were already solving the Essential Challenge — the problem was they didn’t realize they were doing it. For them, it was the only way they knew how to conduct business. As soon as we connected the dots and made transparency the center-piece of their Essential Message, they dramatically improved results, literally overnight. (Read the testimonial here.)

Take this test.

Tell ten people about the challenge your business solves. If the response you get most often is, ‘yeah, you and everyone else’, then you have identified a Category Challenge, not an Essential Challenge. (Note that most people will be too polite to say it this way, but you know it’s what they’re thinking!)

Discovering your Essential Challenge may look simple, but it’s rarely easy. It may require you to dig a little deeper than you’re used to. It may take the trained eye of a certified Essential Message Facilitator to help you choose where to dig. But regardless of how you go about it, it’s worth looking for it. Because when you’ll find the Essential Challenge you solve, you’ll also find the challenge that sets you apart.

That’s your authentic competitive advantage.

Essentially yours,

Michel Neray
Chief Differentiation Officer
The Essential Message

P.S. Discovering your Essential Challenge is just just one of the things you’ll discover in the Essential Message Group Intensive. It’s limited to a small number of participants, so click here to find out more now.